Lyons takes double OT to edge Naperville North
After Lyons Township claimed a hard-fought win over Naperville North three weeks ago, Lions boys basketball coach Tom Sloan instantly began dreading a possible rematch.
The dread became reality on Monday.
It took every ounce of energy for seeded and favored Lyons to beat the Huskies again - 59-56 in double overtime - and advance to the semifinals of York's 41st Annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic in Elmhurst.
The Lions face unbeaten Lake Forest at 8 p.m. Tuesday with a berth in the title game on the line. Naperville North plays Highland Park in the consolation bracket at 5 p.m.
"Naperville North, you've got to give them tons of credit," said Sloan, whose team beat Naperville North 59-49 on Dec. 6 at the United Center. "After playing them the first time I was really hoping that we didn't have to play them again. Anybody's that's advanced this far in a 32-team tournament is going to be tough to beat."
Zach Tuxhorn's putback bucket a minute into the second overtime gave Naperville North (7-5) a 55-54 lead but Harrison Niego answered for the Lions (11-2) with his fourth 3-pointer of the game to put Lyons ahead to stay at 57-55.
Baylor Griffin's free throw narrowed the gap to 57-56, but a Huskies miss and two Niego free throws boosted the Lions' advantage to 59-56 with 16.3 seconds left. A Naperville North 3-point attempt at the buzzer went off the mark to preserve the victory for the Lions.
"They hung in there, they competed and they made some great defensive plays," said Huskies coach Jeff Powers, who notched his 300th career win on Saturday. "I'm really proud of how our kids defended today."
Naperville North appeared headed for a loss multiple times but kept fighting back. The Huskies closed the first half with 14 straight points to tie the game at 25, and rallied again from an 8-point deficit after three quarters.
The Huskies' trap-and-press defense hounded the Lions in the fourth quarter, allowing them to stay close and force overtime on Cam Hardy's buzzer-beater. Lyons Twp. took a 53-49 lead in the first overtime, but Mitch Lewis scored for the Huskies and then got a steal and bucket to tie the game and eventually force a second overtime.
Niego led all scorers with 23 points while Lewis led Naperville North with 17 points and Griffin added 16 points.
"That was definitely a grind-it-out game," Niego said. "We didn't play well in stretches, but then we did play well in stretches. We battled."
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